Although there is no research that sets an optimal size for classes, research in
the K–12 system in the US has confirmed that smaller classes lead to greater student achievement
(Folger & Breda, 1989), though Grissmer (1999) and Slavin (1989) suggest that teacher
competence is more important. Students, therefore, may do better in a large class with a
well-trained teacher than in a small class with a poorly trained teacher. In a review of the
research on class size reduction, Buckingham (2003) concludes that, while there are
several studies that report a strong relationship between learning and class size, many of
these studies reveal methodological weaknesses (e.g., insufficient randomization, lack of
independent evaluations) that make their findings less than conclusive. Moreover,
Buckingham (2003) argues that, in the absence of consistent and convincing findings, the
reduction of class sizes from 25 to 20 students may not be worth the cost to public
schools. She points out, “Research tells us that effective teaching is much more important
than the number of children in the classroom. It is therefore much wiser to invest in the
quality of teachers, rather than quantity” (p. 15).

Buckingham, J. (2003). Reflections on class size and teacher quality. Issue Analysis, 29A.
Retrieved February 24, 2006, from:
http://www.cis.org.au/IssueAnalysis/ia29a/IA29a.htm
Folger, J., & Breda, C. (1989). Evidence for Project STAR about class size and student
achievement. Peabody Journal of Education, 67(1), 17–33.
Grissmer, D. (1999). Conclusion–Class size effects: Assessing the evidence, its policy
implications, and future research agenda. Educational Evaluation and Policy
Analysis, 21(2), 231–248.
Slavin, R. E. (1989). Achievement effects of substantial reductions in class size. In R.
Slavin (Ed.), School and classroom organization (pp. 247–257). Hillsdale, NJ:
Erlbaum.


On Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:38:26 +1300
  "John Benseman" <john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz> wrote:

> I don’t know the specific words that Dylan Wiliam uses about class size, but

> I am guessing that what he says is that there is no authoritative research

> that shows that class size is irrefutably related to student learning. This

> is not to say that class size doesn’t matter, it merely says that the

> research over many 100s of studies is inconclusive to date.

> 

> 

> 

> As I am sure that the great majority of people on this listserv will attest,

> we all feel intuitively that class size DOES matter – it’s just that there

> is no research to back this conclusion. The jury, so to speak, is still out

> on this dimension of teaching (as it is in many other areas).

> 

> 

> 

> The second point re saying that ‘praise hurts students’: I couldn’t find the

> specific reference, but again interpreting what I think Wiliam would say is

> something along the lines of: just praising students for the sake of

> praising does them little good. What is needed however is clear and

> realistic feedback on where they are at in their learning. If that comes

> with a dollop of praise, then that’s great, but praise per se is not

> sufficient.

> 

> 

> 

> I think that we can fall in to a trap of thinking that learners invariably

> want/need support (which they do at times), but they also need to be

> challenged, which means that we need to give them realistic feedback on how

> they are progressing (or not).

> 

> 

> 

> Regards, John

> 

> 

> 

> PS I am not a paid servant of Dylan Wiliam, but I am a fan of his research



> 

> 

> 

> John Benseman

> 

> *   john.benseman at criticalinsight.co.nz

> 

> *   641 9 627 1882  Cell  027 454 0683

> 

> * 52a Bolton St, Blockhouse Bay, Auckland 0600, NZ

> 

>  _____  

> 

>From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov]

> On Behalf Of Bruce C

> Sent: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 11:29 a.m.

> To: specialtopics at nifl.gov

> Subject: [SpecialTopics 777] Re: EducationGuardian.co.uk: Smaller classsizes

> 'not cost effective

> 

> 

> 

> Regarding small class size....

> 

> 

> 

> Excuse my language, but regarding the comments of regarding class size

> attributed to Prof Dylan Wiliam, Deputy Director and Professor of

> Educational Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London,

> I say ...

> 

> 

> 

> "BALDERDASH!!! and HOGWASH!!!!" 

> 

> 

> 

> I can't believe anyone who has been a teacher would ever say "...as long as

> pupils are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is

> generally possible with a class of 30." 

> 

> 

> 

> Maybe this was taken out of context. Prof. Wiliam (yes it's only one "L"--I

> checked.) says some interesting things about formative assessment and

> personalized learning on this "Learning About Learning" website: 

> 

> 

> 

> http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylanw

> iliam.asp

> 

> 

> 

> He does say a few wacky things--like that praise hurts students. 

> 

> 

> 

> Prof. Wil.i.am. says that formative assessment "encourages teachers to take

> constant readings about where students are." He says it's important to do

> this "minute by minute, day by day."  That's why I can't believe this dude

> really thinks that class size doesn't matter. I think a teacher with 20

> students in his/her class can get a better sense of where everyone is than a

> teacher with 30 students. 

> 

> 

> Sure there may be things we can do that are cheaper than reducing class

> size...

> 

> 

> 

> But so what?

> 

> 

> 

> If that is how we define "cost effectiveness" why not TRIPLE class size and

> save tons of money? 

> 

> 

> 

> You get my point, right? 

> 

> 

> 

> from Bruce Carmel

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of 

> the Institute of Education says, 

> 

> 

> <http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/learningaboutlearning/aboutlal/biogs/biogdylan

> wiliam.asp>  

> 

> 

> "David J. Rosen" <djrosen at comcast.net> wrote:

> 

> Colleagues,

> 

> Tom Sticht spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and sent 

> it for our formative assessment discussion.

> 

> -------

> Note from Tom Sticht:

> 

> This article about formative assessment appears in todays (2/25/08 

> Education Guardian online.

> -------

> 

> To see this story with its related links on the 

> EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk

> 

> Smaller class sizes 'not cost effective'

> Anthea Lipsett

> Monday February 25 2008

> The Guardian

> 

> Reducing school class sizes in an attempt to raise pupil achievement 

> is a waste of money for all but the youngest children, one of the 

> country's leading experts on assessment said today.

> 

> Cutting class size by 30% gives children the equivalent of four extra 

> months of learning a year, but costs around £20,000 for each 

> class every year, according to Prof Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of 

> the Institute of Education.

> 

> He said the more effective method of "formative assessment" - where 

> teachers monitor their pupils' progress continuously and provide 

> appropriate feedback - could provide eight extra months of 

> educational development for only £2,000 per classroom per year.

> 

> "It can therefore be 20 times as cost-effective as reducing class 

> size in terms of pupil achievement," he told the annual Chartered 

> London Teachers Conference today.

> 

> "Smaller classes do confer a benefit if pupils are unruly, because 

> fewer pupils in a class means less disruption. But as long as pupils 

> are well-behaved, then what you can do with a class of 20 is 

> generally possible with a class of 30.

> 

> "Smaller classes can also be more cost-effective for five to seven- 

> year-olds, but research suggests the class size needs to be reduced 

> to 15 or less," he said.

> 

> Wiliam added that investments in information communication technology 

> have also shown a poor return. But international studies have 

> confirmed that formative assessment can double the speed of pupil 

> learning.

> 

> Some teachers use a "traffic light" system and ask pupils to hold up 

> different coloured cards to show whether they have understood what 

> they have been told. Red means "no", amber means "partly", and green 

> "yes". Pupils are also encouraged to evaluate their own work and 

> advise their classmates on how they can improve.

> 

> The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish education departments 

> have all provided varying degrees of backing for formative assessment.

> 

> After three years of research in both the UK and the US, Wiliam 

> concluded that the approach would only take off properly if teachers 

> work together in school-based groups to refine their classroom methods.

> 

> Wiliam and his co-researchers found that groups of eight to 10 

> teachers who meet once a month for at least two years can be most 

> effective. "It takes time to change teachers' ways of working, 

> particularly if they have been in the classroom for many years," said 

> Wiliam. "Simply telling teachers what to do doesn't work."

> 

> "For example, most teachers have heard about research from the 1980s 

> which shows that if they wait three to five seconds after asking a 

> question their pupils' performance improves because they have been 

> given some time to think.

> 

> "Even so, many teachers are still allowing less than a second for 

> pupils to respond. The conclusion we can draw from that is that 

> knowing what to do is the easy part of teaching. Actually doing it is 

> what's hard."

> 

> Wiliam told EducationGuardian.co.uk that teacher quality was key to 

> any improvements.

> 

> "To reduce class size from 30 to 20 would need 150,000 more teachers 

> and that would dilute the quality of teachers," he said.

> 

> "We need to change what teachers do day in day out in the classroom 

> and we need to get better teachers into the profession."

> 

> Martin Johnson, acting deputy general secretary of the Association of 

> Teachers and Lecturers, said the research should encourage the 

> government to "put its money where its mouth is".

> 

> "Staff need to work together to learn how to teach more effectively, 

> but schools will need more resources to do this. [Wiliam] reminds us 

> that this would be very cost-effective.

> 

> "Schools have benefited hugely over the last decade from having more 

> classroom based staff but much more training is needed to make their 

> deployment fully effective.

> 

> "And while the government says it encourages assessment for learning, 

> its testing policies have stolen teachers' self-confidence so new 

> training must be provided and resourced.

> 

> "School staff desperately need a contractual entitlement to training 

> which meets their individual needs."

> 

> Copyright Guardian News and Media Limited

> 

> 

> 

> David J. Rosen

> Special Topics Discussion Moderator

> djrosen at comcast.net

> 

> 

> 

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> National Institute for Literacy

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> 

> 

> 

>  

> 

>  _____  

> 

> Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo

> <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51438/*http:/www.yahoo.com/r/hs>  your homepage.

> 

> 



John Comings
National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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